Man, I wrote a lot for many episodes. Once again, I must state that spreading the writing out over a week's time is one of the better ideas I've had lately. Go, me! *pats self on the back*
Anime discussed: Asu no Yoichi!, Axis Powers Hetalia, Clannad ~After Story~, Code Geass R2, Excel Saga, Gunbuster, Kemono no Souja Erin, Kurenai, Kurokami, Lovely Complex, Maria Holic, The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan, Minami-ke Okaeri, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 s2, Munto (TV), Nyoro~n Churuya-san, Rideback, Shugo Chara! Doki, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Toradora!, White Album
-- Asu no Yoichi! ep6: Ah, just as I am lamenting about a lack of screen time for Washizu, here arrives an episode revolving around him! And, big surprise, I enjoyed it a lot. Totally predictable joke, but I laughed a lot when Yoichi approached Washizu on the roof of the school after Washizu left a note in Ibuki's locker. Washizu training at Ibuki's dojo is a lot of fun, too -- first he gets punked out by the little kids who have been training there since the start of the series, and then, of course, he gets into a heated competition with Yoichi (who is training him). 1,000 push ups is nothing for Washizu if it will allow him to win Ibuki's heart! Haha. His friend, Torigaya, is great, too. If only we could all having a cheering squad like him. I hope those two are at least semi-permanent fixtures at the dojo from here on out. Next week the show continues pulling out a ... *suspenseful music* ... beach episode! Come on, there is no way this series is going to avoid treading that ground.
-- Axis Powers Hetalia ep4: Decent episode that brings Japan, Germany and Italy together as partners in World War II. Nothing really stood out to me that much aside from Italy being his usually clueless self. The Axis Powers could end up being a fun team though (now there's a sentence you don't see written every day).
-- Clannad ~After Story~ ep18: Ridiculously good episode. I must say again: OMG USHIO IS SO ADORABLE!!!!! And this episode is heavy on the parent/child relationship theme, so of course I broke down in tears twice. (Parent/child stuff ALWAYS gets to me, without fail. It is why I love Air so much.) I'm so glad relatively little time is spent with Tomoya wallowing in despair -- he's too good a man to completely forget his child while he destroys himself (although he did that for five years we didn't see). The conversation between Tomoya and his grandmother is so strong; it is the kick in the ass he needs to realize what a crappy dad he's been. And when Tomoya goes to Ushio and asks for forgiveness, she accepts him because she loves him. My gosh. When she teared up after saying she lost the first thing her daddy gave her, I teared up with her. So heartbreaking. And then when Tomoya starts crying when telling Ushio about Nagisa, I damn near lost it. Just such a beautiful moment. I love Clannad so very, very much.
-- Code Geass R2 ep12: lol, why, oh why, are the Ashford episodes so damned entertaining? This is another in a long line of high school hijinks episodes that are completely out of place with the rest of the series: Lelouch has to deal with the consequences of Sayoko packing his schedule to the brim with dates -- not to mention the kiss she slipped Shirley while disguised as Lelouch. And then there's the contest Milly puts on for Valentine's Day, which develops into the entire Ashford female population chasing after Lelouch so that they can date him, or increase their club budget, or both. Hilarity ensues, and Lelouch becomes closer to Shirley ... until Jeremiah shows up in the end, unveils his Geass-canceling ability (I wonder what the limits of that are?) and causes Shirley to remember everything that happened before her memory was wiped. If you remember her sad life, then you know things are not good for Lelouch. I am going to go out on a limb and predict things won't turn out so well for Shirley, either.
-- Excel Saga eps 1-13: To keep myself from downloading too much for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to watch a few series I have in Japanese, since I usually just watch the dubs of series I buy on DVD. First up is Excel Saga, which I hesitated to watch again for a while because I was afraid I wouldn't think it was funny anymore. Well, I'm not really laughing uproariously at much, but I do have a smile on my face most of the time when I watch the series. Whether that's because of memories or because the show is genuinely funny is anyone's guess (I'd say it's a bit of both though). The highlights in the first half of the series are the dating sim episode (Excel as the younger sister is hilarious), the fanservice episode, the animal show episode and the first recap episode. Those are all still pretty damn funny. Right now I'd say I prefer the dub to the original. The comedy hits harder with the English voices, I think. Plus, you can't beat Vic Mignogna as the lead dog in the animal episode. "You son of a cat!"
-- Gunbuster eps 1-6: Man, I enjoyed the hell out of this. Just six episodes of the human race banding together and blowing an alien race to kingdom come with the power of guts and will. So awesome. The time dilation stuff is really interesting, too, because it drives home the sacrifice everyone makes to protect humanity -- mere months pass by for Noriko and Amano in space, but years pass by on Earth. Their friends live their lives, while Noriko and Amano fight to save them. One of Noriko's friends has a child, and Noriko is able to see that child only once in her life. Coach Ota doesn't even get to see his plan executed. And then the 12,000 years that pass on Earth while Noriko and Amano fly roughly four days in lightspeed us mindboggling. I can barely wrap my mind around the concept lol. But, yeah, totally glad I watched this, and I'll be moving on to Diebuster next.
-- Kemono no Souja Erin ep3: This episode sees the expansion of an interesting political figure -- the Queen's nephew, Damiya. He definitely comes across as a cunning, manipulative type so far. For instance, the Grand Duke wants one of his sons to take the lead during the Touda training ceremony, but then Damiya praises the other kid and secretly puts ideas and aspirations of power into his mind. He's also aware of Soyon's people; I'm sure he is quite interested in her now. Damiya is going to be an important player in the future, I think.
-- Kurenai eps 1-2: An intriguing couple of episodes. I am interested in Shinkurou's past (which includes a tragic end for his mother, apparently) and what I assume are modifications he made to his body so that he could become a mediator. (Done before or after he fell in with Benika's group?) Something else I am enjoying is the contrast between the light side of Shinkurou (on display when he takes care of Murasaki) and his dark side (on display when he mediates, which is sort of ironic). Before we began the series, I was afraid Murasaki would be kind of annoying; however, I quite like her so far. She has the occasional petulant moment, but she also has an awareness of what is right and what is wrong, and she is able to see when she acts selfishly. Plus, she really is a cute kid. I like the women on the show, too. Benika and Yayoi seem pretty awesome, and Yamie is a riot. Tamaki also seems amusing from her short appearances. Definitely looking forward to watching more of this with everyone.
-- Lovely Complex eps 13-14: According to Des, more new characters are going to show up, and I think it's the perfect time, since the series started feeling a bit stale and repetitive before this week. I hope Maity makes a decent impact, though -- after Haruka and Seiko showed up and had their episodes, it's as if they have been swept off to the side (they show up and have funny moments every so often, but ... they feel almost incidental to me now). I do like the development with Risa, who continues to come to terms with and understand better her love of Ootani, but I am slowly being converted to the camp in the Anime Club that views Ootani as an annoying idiot. I want to defend the guy and feel sympathy for him (especially since such a big theme of the show is not being able to help whom you fall in love with, which is why he's hesitant to enter into a relationship with Risa before he really feels the sparks), but the guy is just a dope. Poor Risa. Your heart has led you astray.
-- Maria Holic ep6: Very funny episode with some interesting shake-ups to the story. Kanako being appointed a helper for the physical examinations is just perfect and leads to a metric crapton of Kanako "ZOMG EVERY GIRL IS SO BEAUTIFUL *nosebleed explosion*" moments. And, of course, she has to suffer, so having everyone think she's sick and sticking her behind the curtains while everyone makes suggestive sexy talk = good times. I like the addition of Mariya's twin sister (who is voiced by Aya Hirano!). She's fun trying to get one up on Mariya, although he got the victory in the end. I hope we get to see the boys school soon. It'd be amusing to see Shizu in her natural environment, haha. Looking forward to seeing how everything resolves itself next episode regarding the underwear snatching incident. How will Kanako get out of this one? :P
-- Minami-ke Okaeri ep6: Pretty decent episode. I enjoyed the skit with Mako-chan the most, but not for the usual reasons. Mako-chan and Uchida teaming up to get Chiaki's homework is fun. They make a good pair, although Chiaki didn't make it easy for them. I laughed at Mako-chan's panic when Chiaki suggested (s)he help Uchida with her homework. Mako-chan being totally creeped out by Chiaki, even though Chiaki didn't say anything remotely creepy, is also hilarious. Mako-chan, I missed you so.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 s2 ep19: Pretty good episode, with lots of action. Some big parts, including Saji finally growing a pair and deciding to fight for Louise no matter what the cost. My God, there might be hope for the boy yet! Setsuna is such a good influence. Loved all the stuff that happen once the 00 Gundam went into Trans-Am mode, such as Allelujah morphing into Hallelujah and Andrei getting bitch slapped like nobody's business. (Easily the funniest part of the episode there.) From there, most of the really important stuff happened at the end -- sadly, Anew has completed her transformation into an Innovator, although I am holding out hope that there is some form of Innovator mind control going on with her. Be a good Innovator like Tieria! Please?! Damn that smug Ribbons, btw, putting the halt on Regenne's plan before it can even happen. An extra DAMN IT to Nena Trinity for blowing the holy hell out of Wang Liu Mei's ship before she can send Veda's location to Celestial Being. Don't especially care about Wang Liu Mei much, but Hong Long can't die now. No way. He still has so much ass to kick!! WTF?? Nena, die a slow, painful death.
-- Munto (TV) ep4: OK, I am starting to warm up to this series a bit more now. The super pretty and exciting action sequences in this episode contributed to that quite a bit. I'm still a little bit confused about why exactly everyone is fighting, but I think I have most of it pieced together in my head. Munto vs. massive magical armies is awesome, as is Gass vs. massive intergalactic magical armies. (Gass is probably my favorite character right now.) Gntarl is also becoming a stronger villain. In the earlier episodes, he didn't really strike me as anyone threatening (despite being voiced by Norio Wakamoto); however, his plans for Yumemi, along with his attempt to recruit Gass, make him a bit more sinister, which is good. Slowly, but surely, Munto is getting better -- now if only the story can catch up to the action.
-- Rideback eps 4-6: Show's starting to get into the swing of things with the government vs. terrorists dealie, although the guys this week are just generic terrorists. I enjoyed the action in this episode; Rin is always going to look awesome twirling around on Fuego. Or not on Fuego specifically, since I guess it's in the scrap heap for now. But, yes, Rin is officially a target of the government, so much ass shall be kicked for the remainder of the series. I am still sort of wary of this show, but it looks so nice that I think I'll enjoy Rin's transition into badass superhero Ridebacker.
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep18: Good episode -- Rima episodes usually deliver the goods. I actually like the random kid in this episode a lot. Hopefully this isn't his only appearance, although it probably is. Amu and the rest of the Guardians doing a bad job of hiding a surprise birthday party from Rima is funny. It'll be a cold day in Hell before one of them sneaks a lie past Rima. The ? Character Change is awesome, too. Random confessions are random. "I forgot to wear underwear today!" Haha. Good stuff. Cute ending, as well, with the birthday party.
-- To Aru Majutsu no Index ep19: What a strange episode. Looks like we're getting a two-episode mini-arc with Accelerator, which basically assures that To Aru is getting another season, since there is no way the story reaches a reasonable conclusion in four episodes. Anyway, it is weird seeing Accelerator be basically a normal student in this episode -- before, the only side we saw of him is the mass murderer. But now I guess Touma's ass kicking has humbled him, somewhat, and there's a softer side on display that wants to protect this incomplete MISAKA. Hm. Entertaining enough, but I'd rather get back to the main characters.
-- Toradora! ep20: Solid set-up episode for the final (?) arc in the series. I am curious about Taiga now. She did the whole, "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! RYUUJI!!!!!!!!!!" bit at the end of the last episode, but now she is dedicated to surviving on her own rather than totally relying upon him. Either she is taking on the Minorin role and denying her feelings so that Ryuuji can be happy, or her reaction to her realization that Ryuuji would be a lesser part of her life if he were to be with Minorin was a huge wake-up call for her. It's probably a mixture of both, actually. Aside from that, this episode really hit home how much Taiga has grown up since the beginning of the series -- Ryuuji really has had a hugely positive impact in her life. She can be calm and easygoing with Kitamura, her house is tidy and she just seems like a more centered person in general. I am glad Minorin is seemingly back to her "normal" self, although her reaction to Taiga leaving her with Ryuuji at the crosswalk is interesting. Also, Ami is sort of frustrating me right now. She's really trying to be the adult in the situation, acting as if she knows everything that's going to happen, but she can't take control of her life and make her obvious feelings for Ryuuji known. I think she sees how strong Ryuuji's feelings are for both Minorin and Taiga, and she thinks she can't measure up, so she has to take potshots at Ryuuji. Despite my frustrations, I'm a bit sad that she's becoming a less likely option for Ryuuji with each episode. I never really thought she'd end up with him, but still.
-- White Album ep7: Interesting episode. I like all the parts with Mana -- she is going to be a fun character. Touya won't be able to keep up with how quickly she is able to mess with his mind, haha. The part where she yaks away about idols and whatnot with Touya, while simultaneously filling out the worksheet Touya gave to her, is awesome. Touya's reaction when she gives him the sheet -- with every answer correct -- is too great. Also love how she throws basic things back in Touya's face, like chastising him for spending so much time with Misaki rather than Yuki. Speaking of Yuki, all the behind the scenes shenanigans are getting further tangled now. It's pretty much out in the open that Rina and Eiji want to control Yuki and Touya's relationship as much as possible, which Touya does not take kindly to, but he kind of goes along with anyway because he doesn't know how to be assertive. The big curveball is Haruka's reaction near the end. It's not a surprise that she is developing feelings for Touya, although the severe attachment she apparently has is sort of weird. Poor girl must have had an f'ed up past.
